Jurgen Klopp is always going to be a man who defends his players publically and that is something that is certainly admirable, so when it came to questions regarding the perceived poor form of Trent Alexander-Arnold – there was only going to be one answer.
Speaking with the media, the 55-year-old said: “Trent has not been as good or consistent as he used to be, like pretty much all of the boys. What do you expect me to say, he had a world-class season but I left him out anyway? No.
“Nobody has performed on the level we saw and to the level we know they can. In moments yes, of course, there’s been some great games, some super situations, but consistently nobody. That means [Trent] as well”.
It’s sad to hear the boss have to speak like this about his players but it’s hard to argue the statement isn’t correct and instead of singling out or No.66, the German found a way to both defend him, criticise him and send a message to the entire squad.
We all trust that our manager and many of our players are good enough to achieve success again next year but they will need some home truths if this is to happen, clearly the man in charge of the squad is prepared to deliver that.
You can watch Klopp’s comments on Alexander-Arnold (from 5:28) via BeanymanSports on YouTube: